Sylveon/XY
Eevee can only be found on Route 10, also known as Menhir Trail. It is more common in yellow flowers than in red flowers, or regular tall grass. It evolves into Sylveon by levelling up with a Fairy-type move and at least two hearts of affection in Pokémon-Amie. One of the most welcome surprises for most Pokémon fans was the introduction of a brand new Eeveelution in the sixth generation, and without a doubt, Sylveon lives up to the nuzlocke fame of its predecessors. With a decisive skew towards the special side, both offensively and defensively, and a great typing for both purposes, Sylveon's closest relative is likely Vaporeon, which is one of the best Eeveelutions available; however, unlike Vaporeon, Sylveon's typing is much rarer, and as such gets way less competitors. In addition to that, it is one of the very few Pokémon with level-up STAB Moonblast available, as well as a fairly wide movepool to pick from, and stats that are well distributed enough for players to be able to decide whether to run an offensive setup moveset, or a support-based one; with its only downside being the somewhat late availability of the very first STAB move the line gets access to, at least for Eevee that are caught past level 19, Sylveon is guaranteed to pave its way into almost any team. Important Matchups * Gym #2 - Grant (Cyllage City, Rock-type): Eevee must not fight against Grant; its moves are completely outclassed. Sylveon, instead, 3-4HKOs Amaura and 1-2HKOs Tyrunt with Draining Kiss. * Korrina (Geosenge Town, Fighting-type): Eevee should never come close to Lucario's STAB Power-Up Punch, because all it will do is give it an opportunity to boost its Attack; Sylveon's Draining Kiss can 3-4HKO instead, which is plentiful for both Lucario, as they will not have enough time to Swords Dance enough to kill Sylveon before Sylveon disposes of them. * Rival (Tower of Mastery): Eevee can function against the rival's Meowstic if it holds the Eviolite, and preferably with Adaptability rather than Run Away. Adaptability Eevee can 2-3HKO Meowstic with Take Down, or an equally powered Return; no matter the ability, though, Eevee should not fight against Absol: Swords Dance makes Bite a near-OHKO and Eevee's Take Down is a 2HKO, but likely to cause Absol to OHKO after the recoil factors into the equation. Take Down also 3HKOs Quilladin and 2HKOs Braixen or Frogadier; none of them can do better. Sylveon 3HKOs Meowstic with Bite, 2HKOs Absol with Draining Kiss which also 3HKOs Quilladin and Frogadier, and 4HKOs Braixen with Swift. A Sylveon without Draining Kiss is still capable of winning against the starters, but must avoid Absol, as its 3-4HKO Swift would leave it dangerous wiggle room to set up with Swords Dance; same goes for a Draining Kiss Sylveon if Meowstic's Light Screen is still in effect. * Gym #3 - Korrina (Shalour City, Fighting-type): Eevee can 2HKO Mienfoo with one Take Down and then Swift, if it has Adaptability; otherwise, it will need to use Take Down twice, which will expose it to a Power-Up Punch 3HKO if even only one of the turns is a miss. It also needs the Eviolite to win, and cannot do so against Machoke or Hawlucha due to their raw offensive power. Sylveon can OHKO Mienfoo and 2HKO Machoke and Hawlucha with Draining Kiss; in absence of Draining Kiss, Mienfoo can be 2-3HKOed with Swift, and Machoke can be 3-4HKOed, but Hawlucha is an average 5HKO and that would leave too much room for Hone Claws or Power-Up Punch to work against Sylveon. * Rival (Coumarine City): Sylveon's Bite 3HKOs Meowstic and Draining Kiss 2HKOs Absol, but only if Light Screen is down; Sylveon must stall out Light Screen in order to beat Absol without risks, as Absol knows Swords Dance. The starters are all 3HKOed: Quilladin and Frogadier by Draining Kiss, and Braixen by Return. If Draining Kiss is missing from Sylveon's moveset, Return 3HKOs Frogadier and Swift 3-4HKOs Quilladin. * Gym #4 - Ramos (Coumarine City, Grass-type): Jumpluff's Acrobatics is a 4HKO; Sylveon can beat it with Return, which has high chances of 3HKOing. Weepinbell is also 3HKOed; its Acid is relatively weak against Sylveon, despite the weakness supporting it. Sylveon is severely disadvantaged against Gogoat, but may pull off an unexpected victory by alternating Draining Kiss and Protect, while holding the Leftovers; this combination allows Sylveon to maximise its HP recovery and, if Gogoat misses Take Down often enough, Sylveon may win. * Aliana (Kalos Power Plant): Big or small, gotta Moonblast 'em all. * Gym #5 - Clemont (Lumiose City, Electric-type): Sylveon should start off the fight with Moonblast; if Emolga does not use Volt Switch, it will be 2HKOed, whereas if it does switch it will most likely do so in favour of Magneton. If Magneton is hit by a Moonblast, Sylveon can then KO it with Dig; its Mirror Shot is also only a 3HKO, despite Sylveon's weakness, and since Magneton's Speed is only slightly higher than Sylveon, it may even not get to attack at all. Sylveon's Dig also 2HKOs Heliolisk. * Rival (Route 14): Sylveon's Moonblast is a 2-3HKO (most often a 2HKO) against Meowstic, an OHKO against Absol and Greninja, and a 1-2HKO against Chesnaught. Delphox can be 3HKOed with Dig. * Gym #6 - Valerie (Laverre City, Fairy-type): Mawile's advantage is only on paper, as both of its offensive moves are Dark-typed; Sylveon can easily 2-3HKO it with Moonblast. Sylveon should also put up Light Screen before Mawile falls; Moonblast is a near-certain 2HKO against Mr. Mime, but the latter also knows Light Screen, so Sylveon will maintain the advantage only by also having its Light Screen up. Sylveon also wins against Valerie's own, whose strongest STAB is Dazzling Gleam, but Sylveon with a Speed-lowering nature or poor Speed IVs will require Light Screen up at all times in order to not get 4-5HKOed before they can beat the enemy. * Celosia and Bryony (Poké Ball Factory, tag battle with rival): Moonblast should first be used to OHKO Liepard, which would otherwise likely off the rival's Meowstic. Then, it also 2HKOs Manectric. * Mable (Frost Cavern): Houndoom can be 2HKOed with Dig if Sylveon is holding the Expert Belt. * Rival (Anistar City): Sylveon's Moonblast 2HKOs Meowstic and OHKOs Absol. With the Expert Belt, Dig is also guaranteed to 2HKO Jolteon and Flareon; Vaporeon is only 3-4HKOed by Moonblast, but its Muddy Water is no better. Chesnaught and Greninja are OHKOed by Moonblast, and Delphox is 2-3HKOed with Dig. * Gym #7 - Olympia (Anistar City, Psychic-type): Moonblast is a natural 2HKO against Sigilyph, but Sigilyph knows Light Screen, which redoubles the amount of turns needed to KO. Sylveon should start off with Moonblast either way, then put up Light Screen only if Sigilyph also does, to even out the matchup; Sigilyph's Psychic deals less than half the damage of Moonblast, if the Screens are either both up or both down. Sylveon's Light Screen also enables it to fight against Slowking, which is 3HKOed without any Calm Minds; Light Screen must be restored and kept up at all times for Sylveon to win, as its Moonblast will quickly lose power as Slowking sets up. Using a special attacker is not ideal in this case; Sylveon should be sent to battle only in absence of better options. Sylveon may fight the same way against Meowstic, which is 2-3HKOed by Moonblast, but should preferably not do so: unlike Slowking, Meowstic outspeeds, and Sylveon can be hit in between Light Screen restoration turns by a Calm Mind-boosted Psychic, which nearly OHKOs at +6. * Lysandre battle #1 (Lysandre Labs): Sylveon destroys Mienfoo and Murkrow with Moonblast, and can 2-3HKO Pyroar with Dig if the Expert Belt is being held; however, Pyroar also has a small 3HKO chance with Fire Blast, or may 3HKO anyway by scoring a burn. This can be prevented with Calm Mind, which allows Sylveon to later 2HKO Pyroar (at +2 or above) with Moonblast; hitting +4 allows the Eeveelution to also face Lysandre's ace. Sylveon must not touch Gyarados anywhere below +4 Calm Minds, as Gyarados 2HKOs with Iron Head; at over two thirds of its health available, Sylveon can survive a hit and win. * Aliana (Lysandre Labs): Big or small, gotta Moonblast 'em all (with the Expert Belt, this time). * Celosia (Lysandre Labs): Sylveon's Moonblast 2HKOs Manectric, but cannot win against Drapion, which outspeeds and 2HKOs with Poison Jab. Alternatively, Sylveon may use Calm Mind and stop at +2 or higher to then OHKO Drapion with Moonblast; it needs over two thirds of its health to survive Poison Jab, though. * Bryony (Lysandre Labs): Moonblast OHKOs Liepard easily, but Bisharp has an OHKO chance with Iron Head and must be avoided. * Mable (Lysandre Labs): Houndoom only 3-4HKOs with Sludge Bomb, and can still be 2HKOed easily with Dig supported by the Expert Belt. Weavile gets wrecked by Moonblast. * Xerosic (Lysandre Labs): Crobat's Cross Poison is a no-go, it 2HKOs Sylveon. Moonblast OHKOs Malamar instead, providing Sylveon is holding the Expert Belt. * Lysandre battle #2 (Team Flare Secret HQ): Moonblast still destroys Mienshao and Honchkrow, though Sylveon needs to be over half health to survive Honchkrow's Steel Wing. Dig still 2-3HKOs Pyroar with the Expert Belt, though Pyroar also still has a small 3HKO chance either through damage variation or a burn; Sylveon can prevent this by putting up Light Screen and/or spamming Calm Mind. By hitting +4, Sylveon can 2HKO with Moonblast rather than using Dig, and Fire Blast deals negligible damage at that point. Gyarados still 2HKOs with Iron Head, and needs a better counter if Sylveon is anywhere below +4 Calm Minds; in that case, and with over half of its health available, Gyarados can be OHKOed. * Xerneas (Team Flare Secret HQ, X only): Xerneas' Moonblast is roughly as powerful as Sylveon's, though Xerneas outspeeds; both will 3HKO, so Sylveon can win only if healed throughout the battle. * Yveltal (Team Flare Secret HQ, Y only): Sylveon's bulk allows it to take Oblivion Wing well, as the move only 4HKOs. Instead, Sylveon's Moonblast scores a clean 2HKO. * Lysandre battle #3 (Team Flare Secret HQ): Once again, Mienshao and Honchkrow get beaten by Moonblast; Sylveon must still be in the green to survive Honchkrow's Steel Wing, though. Pyroar is beaten by Dig with the Expert Belt attached, with only minimal chances of Fire Blast 3HKOing before that happens; it is still wiser for Sylveon to use Calm Mind and set up, as it only requires a +2 to later face Gyarados. Sylveon loses against Mega Gyarados without any Calm Mind setups, since Moonblast only 2HKOs just like Iron Head, and Mega Gyarados is faster; it can OHKO with Moonblast starting at +2, but also needs almost its whole health bar to survive Iron Head. * Professor Sycamore (Couriway Town): Despite Venusaur not having any Poison moves, Sylveon remains disadvantaged against it, as Shadow Ball deals less damage than Petal Dance; only Venusaur's self-induced confusion can turn the matchup in Sylveon's favour, and it can still win with Synthesis if it snaps out of it. However, by keeping Light Screen up and its health high, Sylveon can prevail; it can also profit of Petal Dance turns to set up Calm Minds, until Venusaur switches to Petal Blizzard. Charizard can be 4HKOed with Shadow Ball, but Sylveon needs to be healed in between, as its Flamethrower may do the same; the Leftovers combined with Light Screen will prevent this, though, and Calm Mind also provides better endurance and quicker KOs. Blastoise 3HKOs with Aqua Tail, and cannot be 2HKOed unless Sylveon has at least one Calm Mind backing it up. * Shauna (Route 19): Delcatty poses absolutely no threat whatsoever, and Sylveon should use it to set up Calm Minds before facing the rest of Shauna's Pokémon. If Shauna's starter is Delphox, Sylveon requires a +2 to OHKO Delcatty and Goodra with Moonblast, and then also OHKO Delphox with Shadow Ball; with the other two starters, Moonblast already OHKOs all of Shauna's team at +1. All matchups require Sylveon to hold the Expert Belt. * Tierno (Route 19): Avoid Talonflame, as it can set up Swords Dance and wreck entire teams with Acrobatics thereafter; Sylveon can only 3HKO it with Shadow Ball at best, which gives the bird too much room to boost its Attack. Roserade's only move is Petal Dance, which can be outdamaged and easily beaten at +2 Calm Minds with a 2HKO Shadow Ball. Crawdaunt is OHKOed by Moonblast even without setups. * Trevor (Route 19): Sylveon may either reach +2 with Calm Mind and OHKO Raichu and Aerodactyl, then 2HKO Florges, or hit +4 and OHKO all of Trevor's team. Both options require variable amounts of healing; Raichu is good setup material, but its Nuzzle impairs Sylveon's functioning. * Gym #8 - Wulfric (Snowbelle City, Ice-type): Sylveon will most likely outspeed Abomasnow, and if it does, it should find no trouble hitting +4 Calm Minds and then OHKOing all of Wulfric's team with Moonblast. A Sylveon that is outsped will still manage, but potentially require healing once. * Rival (Victory Road): Meowstic's Psychic is relatively weak at this point, and Sylveon can use Meowstic to set up at will. Shadow Ball OHKOs Meowstic at +2 already, and both Altaria and Absol are OHKOed by Moonblast even at just +1. Chesnaught and Greninja are OHKOed by Moonblast, Delphox is OHKOed by Shadow Ball at +2 or higher; Jolteon and Vaporeon are OHKOed by Moonblast and Flareon is OHKOed by Psyshock at +3 Calm Minds or higher each. * Elite Four Wikstrom (Pokémon League, Ironworks Chamber, Steel-type): No. Even though Klefki and Probopass are far from overpowered, even setting up repeated Calm Minds would be difficult and also prove useless against Scizor and Aegislash, both of which rely on physical moves. * Elite Four Malva (Pokémon League, Blazing Chamber, Fire-type): The matchup against Pyroar is unfavourable, as it pitches Sylveon against a Pokémon with a move that can lower its Special Attack; although Calm Mind can compensate for Sylveon's stat drops, it is advised to simply use a better Pyroar counter. Sylveon finds better ground to use the first Calm Mind against Torkoal, which it can then 2HKO with Shadow Ball; at +1 Shadow Ball also OHKOs Chandelure if supported by the Expert Belt, unless Chandelure uses Confide, but that still results in a 2HKO. Talonflame is much harder to beat: the OHKO is guaranteed only at +5, which is too much for Sylveon to set up, as Torkoal's Curse can endanger it as well; Talonflame's Brave Bird and Flare Blitz also both have 2HKO chances, although not high, so Sylveon should preferably not fight Talonflame at all. * Elite Four Drasna (Pokémon League, Dragonmark Chamber, Dragon-type): Sylveon should lead with Calm Mind against Dragalge, which allows to take less damage from Sludge Bomb and then KO with Psyshock. Druddigon, Altaria and Noivern are then OHKOed by Moonblast. * Elite Four Siebold (Pokémon League, Flood Chamber, Water-type): Clawitzer is all the setup material Sylveon needs; at +4 Calm Minds, Moonblast OHKOs all of Siebold's team. Sylveon will likely require healing during the fight, as Gyarados and Barbaracle outspeed it - Barbaracle may be outsped by a Sylveon with some Speed investment, or a Speed-boosting nature - and they come close to 2HKOing with Waterfall and Stone Edge respectively; Stone Edge itself has a 2HKO chance, meaning a critical hit would kill. If there are Pokémon with Grass coverage on the team, they should take on Barbaracle in Sylveon's place as a safety measure. * Champion Diantha (Pokémon League, Radiant Chamber): Hawlucha's Poison Jab is close to 2HKO range, so Sylveon should OHKO it with Moonblast without wasting any time setting up. A wounded Sylveon cannot fight against Tyrantrum, which can inflict upwards of 90% with Head Smash; a Sylveon with higher-than-average Speed, of 129 or above, will instead be guaranteed to outspeed Tyrantrum regardless of nature, and OHKO with Moonblast. Aurorus is good setup material: its Blizzard 4HKOs naturally, and Calm Mind quickly boosts the amount of turns it takes to KO, plus it only has 5 PP. At +4, Moonblast OHKOs Aurorus, Goodra and even Mega Gardevoir, and Sylveon will take little damage from their moves, as they all are special hitters; whether or not Sylveon will keep the Calm Mind setup depends on Gourgeist, because while Shadow Force only 2HKOs at best, Trick-or-Treat will expose Sylveon to critical hits coming from Mega Gardevoir's Shadow Ball, which can actually kill Sylveon if its type is Fairy/Ghost. If Sylveon is eventually switched out against Gourgeist, it can set back up against Goodra, hit +4 once again, and then OHKO the remainder of Diantha's team. * Post-Game: Good tanks tell no lies. Sylveon will keep proving itself a valuable ally, no matter how far the challenge is taken. Moves Eevee's initial movepool consists of Swift, Quick Attack, Bite, and either Baby-Doll Eyes for level 19 catches, or Refresh for the others. Any Eevee with Baby-Doll Eyes access should be evolved right away, as Sylveon learns Draining Kiss at level 20, which is excellent STAB for this point in the game and also provides useful recovery. The earliest the others can evolve at is level 29. Both Swift and Quick Attack are good moves to start off with, especially if Eevee has Adaptability; Swift should be kept for the long term, as it will be good even on Sylveon, as an alternative to Fairy moves against Pokémon that resist its STAB. At level 23, Eevee learns Covet, which can be considered over Quick Attack if the loss of priority does not bother Eevee, or over Refresh if it previously knew the move; at level 25, Eevee learns Take Down while Sylveon gets Skill Swap. Neither move is exceptionally useful, but Take Down does temporarily boost Eevee's damage output, despite being very inaccurate; only Return will do better, but an Eevee that has the Return base power maxed out may evolve into Espeon or Umbreon instead. At level 29, Eevee learns Charm, which of course Eevee needs to evolve; sacrifice its physical Normal STAB in its favour, as it will not be needed as Sylveon, and Sylveon can still learn Return now that its friendship is uninfluential on the evolution. Sylveon, instead, learns Misty Terrain at 29, which might be situationally useful in a team that suffers from status and Dragon moves, but is generally not advised. The latest level Eevee should evolve at is level 33, when it learns Baton Pass; this will be useful as Sylveon with Calm Mind, but it's hard to keep Eevee alive until then, and not worth the bother unless the team sports a Baton Pass recipient and Exp. Share usage is permitted, which significantly lessens Eevee's chances of dying before evolution. At level 33, Sylveon gets Light Screen, which is a great support move and will make its bulk even grander than it already is; it's also perfect for switch-ins, to reduce incoming damage. Moonblast comes at level 37, and makes Sylveon absolutely broken for a good portion of the game, and still very powerful even after it; it is the one move every Sylveon must have. The last two natural moves are underwhelming in comparison: Last Resort at 41 comes off the wrong offensive stat, and Psych Up at 45 is actually counter-productive, as Sylveon is one of the best Pokémon to set up Calm Minds. Sylveon's TM options are fairly varied, but sadly, most of the good moves it gets only come in the late game. Psyshock is one of them, which is also great to hit Pokémon with higher Special Defense than Defense without giving up on Sylveon's better offensive stat; Shadow Ball offers good coverage for Psychic- and Ghost-types as well. As mentioned already, however, Calm Mind takes the cake for one of the best moves Sylveon has access to; pitched against any specially offensive Pokémon, it will give Sylveon a chance to set up and then sweep everything, especially with Leftovers support and - only for runs with limited or forbidden healing items - Draining Kiss. Nuzlockers running Calm Mind as well as a healing restriction should consider Protect and Reflect as Sylveon's available support moves; the former allows twice as much Leftovers recovery while Sylveon sets up, and the latter makes even its lower defensive stat remarkable, with its fairly high HP. It should be noted, though, that Reflect is a postgame exclusive. Alternatively, Sylveon can learn plain old Rest. Players looking into a full support/stall set, instead, will find Toxic an ever popular option. Recommended movesets: ''Calm Mind sweeper: Calm Mind, Moonblast, Shadow Ball, Psyshock'' ''Support / Stall: Toxic, Reflect / Protect, Light Screen, Moonblast'' Recommended Teammates * Ground-types: Pure Fairy-types only have two weaknesses, both of which are excellently covered by Ground. Poison and Steel Pokémon will no longer be an issue for Sylveon, and since most Grass-, Water- and Ice-type moves are special, it is also highly likely that Sylveon will be able to wall back the common threats that Ground-types face. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Krookodile, Hippowdon, Steelix, Marowak, Golurk, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Flygon, Garchomp, Quagsire, Whiscash, Mamoswine, Sandslash * Fast hitters: Sylveon is unlikely to ever need to outspeed, but should a Speed-critical threat endanger the team, it is always a good choice to have a fast attacker as well. Many Pokémon in Kalos are fit for this job. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Delphox, Greninja, Talonflame, Raichu, Pyroar, Alakazam, Scolipede, Crobat, Mienshao, Starmie, Heliolisk, Manectric, Jolteon, Espeon, Hawlucha, Tauros, Gengar, Weavile, Noivern Other Eevee's stats Sylveon's stats * What Nature do I want? Modest is the absolute best. Failing that, anything that lowers Attack will work, the second best being Calm and Bold; natures that penalise Speed are also good for Sylveon, as it does not need to outspeed anything, so Quiet could be a nice alternative, and both Relaxed and Sassy would also do good. * Which Ability do I want? It does not matter after evolution, as all Eeveelutions have only one ability, but it is easier to train Eevee with Adaptability rather than Run Away. STAB base 120 power Swift is a major killer until it evolves. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Whenever possible. Eevee's level-up moveset does not have much to offer to Sylveon that Sylveon cannot learn on its own; unless you want a Calm Mind + Baton Pass combination, there is no reason to wait longer than the bare minimum needed. * How good is Sylveon in a Nuzlocke? Excellent. The Fairy-type has fantastic matchups, and neither of their core weaknesses - Poison and Steel - is very common in Kalos, making Sylveon's bulk effectively higher than it would appear from the raw stats. The much more common Fighting-types will also stand no chance against it; Sylveon has great matchups, and makes up for the somewhat limited movepool with its excellent special bulk and offensive power. Eevee's type matchups: * Weaknesses: Fighting * Resistances: None * Immunities: Ghost * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Steel, Fire, Rock, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon, Dark, Psychic, Fairy Sylveon's type matchups: * Weaknesses: Poison, Steel * Resistances: Fighting, Bug, Dark * Immunities: Dragon * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Ground, Rock, Ghost, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Ice, Fairy Category:X/Y